CHAPTER 9 THE LAW OF CHRIST IS THE TEACHING OF CHRIST

This is a rather obvious point. Most would agree that the law of Christ includes his teaching. For the New Testament writers, the law of Christ is not only his example and person, but also his teaching. 1 He is our great prophet. Christ Our Prophet The Old Testament anticipated an eschatological prophet to come. Deuteronomy 18:15-18 says, The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothersit is to him you shall listenjust as you desired of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die. And the LORD said to me, They are right in what they have spoken. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. Moses is here referring to a sequence of prophets and one final unique prophet who will be like Moses. 2 YHWH said of Moses: If there is a prophet among you, I the LORD make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream. Not so with my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my house. With him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in riddles, and he beholds the form of the Lord (Numb 12:6b-8a). Moses was the inaugurator of the Old Covenant and the pinnacle of the prophetic institution. Deuteronomy 34:9-12 sets out an eschatological expectation for the coming Moses-like prophet: And there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, none like him for all the signs and the wonders that the LORD sent him do to in the land of Egypt (v.10-11a).

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Longenecker, Paul: Apostle of Liberty, 191, 194. Contra Daniel I. Block who argues that this passage should only be interpreted collectively. Commenting on the NT usage of Deuteronomy 18, he writes, Even if Peter and/or Stephen viewed Jesus as a messianic prophet like Moses, are we thereby authorized to read their use of Deut. 18:15 back into the original context? in My Servant David: Ancient Israels Vision of the Messiah, in Israels Messiah in the Bible and The Dead Sea Scrolls, ed. Hess, Richard S. and M. Daniel Carroll R (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2003), 29-32. The implied answer for Block is no. If ones exegesis of the OT does not align with the apostolic exegesis of the OT, one probably ought to humbly return to the drawing board.

The prophetic institution reached its culmination in Christ. 3 The New Testament presents Jesus as the one to whom the prophets pointed. 4 Luke 24:27 says, Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself (cf. Luke 24:44-47, 1 Pet 1:10-12). Jesus claimed that Moses wrote about him (John 5:46). Jesus is the chief and last prophet typified in the Old Testament.5 This is why the priests and Levites respond in the way they do, and ask, What then? Are you Elijah? He said, I am not. Are you the prophet? (Jn 1:21). After feeding the five thousand, the people said, This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the World (Jn 6:14, cf. 1:25, 45, 7:40). When Jesus, Peter, John, James, Moses, and Elijah are on the mountain, a voice came out of the cloud, saying This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him (autou akouete) (Lk 9:35)! Note the allusion to Deuteronomy 18 where YHWH said the people would listen to the prophet to come (autou akousesthe LXX). The reader is not left to allusions though because Acts 3:22 and 7:37 applies the Deuteronomy passage to Jesus as the eschatological prophet. Commenting on Acts 3:22, David Peterson writes, Peter envisages Jesus as the eschatological prophet because he brings the ultimate revelation of Gods will and leads Gods people to final salvation. Jesus functions for Israel now as Moses did at the time of the exodus. 6 This prophet, however, is much greater than any Old Testament prophet. 7 Scripture presents Jesus as greater than Moses. In Matthew, Jesus is the new Moses who goes up on the mount to give the new covenant law (Matt 5-7). While Moses was a faithful servant in all Gods house, Jesus is the faithful Son over Gods house (Heb 3:1-6). Hebrews 1:1-2a says, Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son (en hui). Theologian Robert Letham writes, In the mind of the author of Hebrews Jesus Christ,

Graeme Goldsworthy, Preaching the Whole Bible as Christian Scripture (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000), 42; Samuel J. Mikolaski, The Mediatorial Offices of Christ: Prophet, Priest, King, in Basic Christian Doctrines, ed. Henry, Carl F.H (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1962), 148. N.T Wright, The Last Word: Scripture and the Authority of God-Getting Beyond the Bible Wars (New York: HarperOne, 2005), 42-44. Robert Letham, The Work of Christ (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1993), 94-95. Peterson, The Acts of the Apostles, 183-84, cf. 257. Commenting on these passages, Luther writes, For since God here promises another Moses whom they are to hear, it follows of necessity that this other one would teach something different from Moses; and Moses gives up his power and yields to him, so that men will listen to him. This [coming] prophet cannot, then, teach the law, for Moses has done that to perfection; for the laws sake there would be no need to raise up another prophet. Therefore this word was surely spoken concerning Christ and the teaching of grace, Preface to the Old Testament, in Martin Luthers Basic Theological Writings, 129. John Wenham, Christ and the Bible (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1994), 59.

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Gods Son, is a prophet, the greatest prophet and the final definitive prophet, since he is superior to prophets, angels, Moses and all other possible competitors. 8 All throughout Jesus ministry, he is referred to as a prophet (Matt 13:57, Mark 8:28, Matt 21:46, Luke 7:16, Mark 14:65). 9 He spoke as one with authority (Matt 7:29), and it was on his own authority, unlike the prophets who only spoke with authority when under the influence of the Spirit. Hence, Peter tells Jesus that he has the words of life (John 6:68). Jesus words are the foundation of the church and of the Christian life. Without them we are lost. 10 In the antitheses of Matthew 5:21-48, Jesus says You have heard that it was saidBut I say to you. Jesus is the sovereign lawgiver. 11 His teaching is authoritative because he speaks just as the Father taught him (John 8:28, cf. 5:24-27). The Teaching of Jesus in the Teaching of the Apostles The law of Christ obviously includes the red letters of our prophet and although the rest of the New Testament authors do not often directly quote the teaching of Jesus, they allude to it all the time. Richard Longenecker shows how Paul is clearly dependent upon the teaching of Jesus. 12 He shows the overlap between Paul and Jesus in Romans twelve to fourteen:
Romans 12:14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. (Cf. Matt 5:44) Romans 12:17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. (cf. Matt 5:39) Romans 12:21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Cf. Jesus teaching on nonresistance). Romans 13:7 Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed. (Cf. Matt 22:15-22; Mark 12:13-17; Luke 20:20-26). Romans 13:8-10 Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet, and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. (Cf. Matt 22:34-40; Mark 12:28-34; Luke 10:25-28).
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Letham, Work of Christ, 95 See N.T. Wright, Jesus and the Victory of God (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1996), 147-97 for more Scriptural evidence and exposition of Jesus as a prophet. John M. Frame, Salvation Belongs to the Lord (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2006), 54. Letham, Work of Christ, 93. See Longenecker, Paul: Apostle of Liberty, 189-90. See also C.H Dodd, More New Testament Studies (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1968), 144-45.

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Romans 14:10 Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. (Cf. Matt 7:1; Luke 6:37). Romans 14:13 Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. (Cf. Matt 18:7; Mark 9:42 Luke 17:1-2). Romans 14:14 I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. (Cf. Matt 15:11; Mark 7:15). Romans 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. (Cf. Jesus teaching on the kingdom of God in the synoptics).

Even our big text, Galatians 6:1-2, is dependent on the teaching of Jesus. 13 When Paul tells the Galatians to restore a person caught in transgression in a spirit of gentleness (Gal 6:1), he surely has Jesus teaching on restoring sinning brothers and sisters in Matthew 18:15-20 in abbreviated form. Galatians 6:2 alludes to Matthew 23:4. Unlike the scribes and Pharisees, who tie up heavy [bara] burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on peoples shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger (Matt 23:4), the Israel of God (Gal 6:16) is called to bear one anothers burdens (bar), and so fulfill the law of Christ (Gal 6:2). Slaves of Christ Another name for a Christian is a slave 14 of Christ (Rom 1:1, Gal 1:10, Eph 6:5-6, Col 4:12, Tit 1:1, 1 Cor 7:22, Jam 1:1, 2 Pet 1:1, Jude 1, Rev 1:1). 15 The risen Christ is our master. 16 Jesus is our authority. 17 We are owned by him. There is a sense in which all
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Dodd, More New Testament Studies, 146; A. Andrew Das, Paul and the Jews (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2003), 170. The ESV, like most English translations, softens the language by translating doulos as servant. BDAG notes that servant as a translation is largely confined to Biblical translation and early American times, but in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished. Murray Harris writes, A servant gives service to someone, but a slave belongs to someone, Murray J. Harris, Slave of Christ: A New Testament Metaphor for Total Devotion to Christ (Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 1999), 18. And as we have seen above, to be a slave of Christ is to be a slave to one another (Gal 5:13-14). Murray Harris writes, The term doulos expresses both a vertical and a horizontal relationship of the Christian, who is both the willing vassal of the heavenly Master and the submissive servant of fellow-believers. The term epitomizes the Christians dual obligation: unquestioning devotion to Christ and to his people. But the vertical relationship is prior and the horizontal secondary. Christians are devoted to one another as a direct result of being devoted to Christ. When they serve each other, they are demonstrating and expressing their slavery to the Lord Christ Slave of Christ, 104-05. Tom Wells and Fred Zaspel, New Covenant Theology (Frederick, MD: New Covenant Media, 2002), 14-15. See Tom Wells, The Priority of Jesus Christ (Frederick, MD: New Covenant Media, 2005).

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people are owned by Christ since all things were made through him (John 1:3, 1 Cor 8:6, Col 1:16, Heb 1:2), but believers are twice-owned, created and redeemed by Jesus Christ (1 Cor 6:20). We are to listen to him (Matt 17:5). Jesus is our authority, for all authority has been given to him (Matt 28:18). 18 Our commission is to go and teach all to observe all that Jesus commanded. The 1646 London Confession of Faith rightly reflects this when it says that the believer is to presseth after a heavenly and evangelical obedience to all the commands, which Christ as head and king in his new covenant hath prescribed to them. 19 Paul sent Timothy to the Corinthians to remind them of his ways in Christ, as he taught everywhere in every church (1 Cor 4:17). This word ways (hodous) implies both lifestyle and doctrine, which are intimately bound together in the Bible. 20 There has been a shift in authority from the old covenant law to the law of Christ. 21 The law was given through Moses but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ (John 1:17). As Thomas Schreiner notes, John does not concentrate on commands that stem from the OT law. Instead as we would expect from John 1:17, the emphasis lies upon what Jesus instructs his disciples to do. He speaks of my commandments (14:15, 21; 15:10) and my commandment (15:12), and what I command you (15:14, 17), and the new commandment that I give to you (13:34). The law has reached its fulfillment in Christ, and his commands are authoritative for believers. 22

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I. Howard Marshall writes, The law is taken up into a new expression of the will of God as taught by Jesus, and at the end of the Gospel the disciples are to teach people to obey everything that I have commanded you with no mention of law, New Testament Theology (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2004), 119. The First London Confession of Faith (Belton, TX: Sovereign Grace Ministries, 2004), 11-12. Gordon D. Fee, The First Epistle to the Corinthians. The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987), 189. Douglas Moo writes, What emerges from Jesus teaching is a shift of focus from the law to Jesus himself as the criterion for what it means to be obedient to God, The Law of Christ as the Fulfillment of the Law of Moses, 357. Schreiner, 40 Questions, 226.

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